PRESS RELEASE - August 19, 2004
New and Amended Bird Shooting Game Reserves
Come the start of the 2004 Bird Shooting Season this weekend, there will be an increase in the number of game reserves from seventeen to nineteen with the addition of two new reserves in Portland and St. Catherine. This announcement was made at a recent meeting of the Natural Resources and Conservation Authority (NRCA).
The Authority also said that, it will make amendments to three existing reserves in an effort to reduce the noise impacts and pellets from bird shooting activities. The directive, it said, came from the Ministry of Land and Environment (MLE), which indicated that townships and other sensitive areas should have buffer zones around them to reduce these impacts. According to the Authority, the Game Birds Management Sub-Committee has embarked on a programme to declare all townships and their immediate environs as game reserves.
The new reserves are the Portmore and Greater Portmore Game Reserve Boundary in St. Catherine and the Port Antonio-Fairy Hill Game Reserve Boundary in Portland. The Authority has extended the boundaries of the Amity Hall Game Reserve in St. Catherine, the West Harbour Game Reserve in Clarendon and the Holland Bay Game Reserve in St. Thomas.
According to the NRCA, private land owners complained in the past that too much of their lands were affected by bird shooting activities. The new amendments were made using new Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology.
The Amity Hall Game Reserve now includes the entire mangroves and associated wetlands at the southern end of the ADC Property, Large and Small Goat Islands and the body of sea water in between Amity Hall and the Goat Islands. The other portions of the boundary remain as they were.
The West Harbour Game Reserve has been extended along the northwestern boundary, stretching from the railway crossing to Mitchell Town along the Mitchell Town main road. All private solid lands in the east, however, are excluded. The boundary now follows the landward edge of the mangroves. The rest of the boundary remains as it was.
The northern boundary of the Holland Bay Game Reserve has been shifted southwards to exclude the Duckenfield cane fields north of the mangroves and wetlands. The new boundary now falls alongside the landward side of the mangroves and associated wetlands. All other portions of the boundary remain as they were.
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